What do people look for when deciding which plugins to download? Do you check the profile of the developer, go for the best rated, or by other people’s recommendations?
What Should You Look for When Deciding Which Plugins to Download?
Plugins… normally the factors to consider downloading and using a plugin in WordPress are:
- If the plugin’s description and available information has the functions you need for your site.
- If the developer is active about updating their plugin.
- How many times has the plugin been downloaded.
- Reviews or ratings, not just on WordPress.org, but out on other websites (some people will do plugin reviews on their own website.)
Some other factors to consider that you normally don’t think of, but are just as important are:
- Will the plugin play nice with your theme?
- Will the plugin play nice with other plugins?
The two factors are not always considered and a lot of times you can find out by viewing an support tickets or reviews left for the plugin. The reason why a plugin might conflict with other plugins or the theme are due to similarly named functions, database tables, or other markup that the plugin outputs.
If you are not sure about a plugin, make a beta site version of your own site and try out the plugin. This will answer your questions of whether the plugin actually works, and is it something you need for your site without fearing that you are messing up your live site.
The biggest things you really need to think about before downloading and is:
Does your site really need this plugin?
There are quite a few people that will download a plugin like it is something to be collected. Plugins are not like coin collections. In fact, they could become a problem if they are not regularly updated or if they conflict with other plugins. They can also be a problem with site load time if they are activated.
A lot of people will tell you that you shouldn’t use too many plugins. The actual advice they should be saying is use what is necessary for your own site and use common sense when choosing what WordPress plugins to download.
What factors to you look for when deciding which WordPress plugins to download?
In addition to the ideas mentioned here, I also check to see if the plugin is multi-site compatible.
Usually I only experiment with plugins that are rated 4 stars or better in the repository.
As mentioned above, I check the support section. I pay attention to the KINDS of questions people are asking as well as how quickly the author responds.
Hi Gary! This goes in with if it is necessary and has what your site needs. 😉
I think , people should do a bit of research ..they should get as much information possible and think whether they really need the plugin ..They should also check out the blogs that have that plugin installed .
-Pramod
I was always doing this mistake bu never checking the Plugins I download wether they are scam or legit
but for know I’ll check them thanks for sharing this awesome post
have an awesome day ahead 😀
I am guilty of selecting my plugins by standards that have little merit. Usually, my research becomes something closer to, “oh that is a cool plugin name!” My lack of in depth knowledge and due diligence concerning plug ins has already burned me once. Thanks for the great tips about increasing my awareness and functionality with these tools.
Hey Nile,
What a useful information here about downloading plugin. I take home some goodies from your site. I always go for plugin which is best rated and download it especially it is something I want and that it is highly recommended by people who are expert in Internet.
Thank you for sharing the tips on how to check on which plugin to download. Very useful and informative tips, Nile.
Cheers
Pearly Quah
Hi Nile, i used to have tons of plugins which were slowing my site, now i use only necessary plugins . . Great post, thanks for sharing . .
Along the lines of adding plugin’s you’ll actually use and deleting those that you’re not using – I also think it’s important to take the time to fully configure each plugin that you put onto your site and to understand how it works with your site and with the other plugins you’ve got running – My own rule is that if I can’t understand it – I don’t put it on my site – unless I intend to have it configured and reviewed by someone else (security plugins come to mind -where they’re just too complex for my brain – but I don’t want to go without them – so I get a professional to configure them & check up on them from time to time).
Using Lots of unwanted plugins can ruin your blog so i use only the plugins that i need and it also reduces Blog speed and it has many Benefits of it’s own.
Nile,
I have certainly experienced downloading plugins that create problems on the wordpress blog. It can take quite awhile to figure out which plugin is causing the problem. Usually I just delete it and find something else that works better, if that function is really needed at all.
Warmly,
Dr. Erica
When I first started blogging, I added every plugin that I thought that I wanted. Much later when I learned how they impact performance, I started eliminating all but a handful of them. I love your ideal of creating a beta version of our site. I was once an IT professional…you’d think I would have thought of that 🙂
some plugins in wordpress are fake..which adds unwanted code to our wordpress site when added.. so we have to see about author and also search on google about this plugin and which site install this plugin…
These points i follow when i install a wordpress plugin..
If the plugin gets regular updates and compatible with the latest version of WordPress, then usually it works great.. but still you would like to see if it’s good with your theme or not.
it’s all about purpose,if it is useful for me and if it is suitable my theme i download it and i always download from wordpress offical site,not from third party websites,be careful for that,it’s important for security
I always look for the plugin updations. Means how often the plugin updates and is it compatible with the version of wordpress that i am currently using.
I used to download and test drive several plug ins to figure out which one I wanted. It was an inefficient use of time but I learned a lot about what worked and what didn’t work with my site. Now I tend to rely on trusted blogs for reviews before I download any other plug ins.
Everything that is updated on WordPress should be useful. I often find myself wondering whether or not I actually need to download a Plugin. I will definitely use these questions to guide me!
Hello Nile. The factors that determine if I’ll buy or download a plugin are simple and straightforward: the necessity of the plugin (if it’s not necessary, why should I bother?), the compatibility, both with other plugins and my theme (if it’s not, why the headache?), how frequently the plugin is updated by its author (not more than 6 month’s ideal) and the reviews (remember, a user cannot be wrong, ok?). Do you agree with my logic?
Hi,
I myself experienced this exact same problem. I have been trying to install as many useful plugins i wanted. Then it created downtime / CPU usage problems and i was forced to disable a few plugins. Maybe, i should get my own dedicated server.
Well to be frank, when I am about to install any plugin. The only thing I think is whether what result it would have on my site speed. As you know a fast site always impresses the users and also the search engine love em. 😉
hi Nile
nice article i first check plugin rating and review and loading time and how to improve that plugin my site thanks for shring
I think you have offered some really great advice.Thanks. it looks really great and very informative.. Keep posting
I personally download a plugin, look at the source code and integrate it directly into the theme.
All the problems I experience on blogging seem to come from plugin incompatibilities. I recently had endless trouble with WP Cache which pretty much brought down one of my sites and a strange plugin conflict that stops me installing commentluv on all my blogs (works on some). Plugins seem so seductive though and usually reasonably priced but when they threaten to crash your site the only plug in that counts is the backup plugin 😉
I don’t even rely on Backup plugins. If you have a web host that allows full backups and uses cPanel, then you can use that… it is just as effective.
Nice article. I always install plugins from the admin panel, not by download externally. It ensures security.
Nice article. From my point of view plugins can give harm in two ways. 1 – If you’ve a lot of useles plugins and you arn’t deleting it than plugins can decrease your site’s speed. 2 – If we aren’t updating our plugins then it could be harmful for our site’s SEO.
Great tips, although I don’t really know if you can trust the number of downloads. You need to see how long the plugin has been active and compare that with the number of downloads. I tend to notice that those plugins that use videos on their page tend to have very stable plugins (secure), as it usually is a sign of the company having funds.
Reviews can also be misguiding. Look for reviews on exterior sites-not on WordPress.
Great post. Making the beta site version is a good suggestion to implement. More work but safe. Many thanks!!
Great website…and cool article man…thanx for the great post…keep on posting such articles..
Hello,
I always check everything I can before downloading a plugin. The most important things I check are what it does and when was it’s last update. Then I check the compatibility with WordPress. Then I try to find out if there is any support offered. Next I read those messages as much as I can and count the messages where it says: Resolved. After that I calculate the ration to see the percentage of the resolved messages. Next step is to read the FAQ to familiarize my self with the plugin. If I am not sure, I do a Google search to find out more reviews about the plugin or ask my friends. Finally I decide.
Have a nice day
nice article …
first of all checking his loading time and downloads info… then check plugin review… after that used on my blog.. because some plugins are more popular but not good
I try not to use plugins unless absolutely necessary but when I do I always look up the author, read reviews, look at comments, TEST the plugin on my development environment, but most importantly I look at the code.
Even if your not a developer you should look at the code. Even reputable plugins can get compromised, so before installing/updating have a quick look through the code. The most common thing is If you see a long string of seemingly random characters, they could be a base_64 encoded script that could do nasty things to your site, this is why you should check themes too!
It is a nice article about the WordPress plugin. When i use too my plugins for my website, its becoming so slow. So its better to use the required plugins